I don’t want to be Atiku’s running mate 2027 – Diri

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, said on Wednesday that he is not interested in being a running mate to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the 2027 presidential election.

A statement by Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, on Wednesday, said, “A faceless group, which sarcastically named itself Diri Angels, in a statement, had made the suggestion to Alhaji Abubakar.”

Atiku was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, which he lost to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

According to Alabrah’s statement, the Diri Angels met with Atiku and expressed hope that he would emerge as the PDP candidate again in 2027.

Alabrah, however, said, “Diri described the suggestion as a Greek gift from political jobbers and that it should be completely disregarded.”

According to him, the aim of the non-existent group was to cause disaffection in some quarters and the plot had failed.

Diri said God had always guided him on his political journey and he was not swayed by any advocacy that was inconsistent with his godly and political principles.

Diri, who began his second term in office on February 14, 2024, he remained focused on how to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Bayelsa State based on the mandate they first gave him in 2019 and reaffirmed on November 11, 2023.

He urged Bayelsans not to worry about the antics of political buccaneers whose intention was to cause confusion in an attempt to distract him.

He said: “I am not swayed by such calls. In my political journey, I have always relied on God and not on political jobbers with devious intentions.

“The aim of those behind this act is to cause disaffection but the plot is dead on arrival as I’m not interested in such a Greek gift.

“I remain committed to the mandate given to me by the Bayelsa people and I’m single-mindedly focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to them. My administration will not be distracted by those who do not mean well for our state,” he said.